Hyderabad: Doctor held for running illegal surrogacy racket; child trafficking suspected

Authorities have sealed an IVF facility in Hyderabad, accusing Dr. Athaluri Namratha of running a surrogacy racket and suspecting child trafficking. Despite the cancellation of its registration, the doctor allegedly continued operations. Police are investigating links to multiple centres across Telugu States.

Hyderabad: Accused of operating a surrogacy racket, physician Dr Athaluri Namratha (64) went out of her way to ensure she ran a very discreet enterprise to avoid unwanted attention and detection, especially by district health authorities.

To avoid detection, the doctor scheduled appointments for vulnerable childless couples from Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana during unusual hours. As a result, few people spotted couples entering and exiting Universal Sruthi IVF facility at Gopalpuram in Secunderabad.

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The IVF facility itself resembled a house and not a health care facility, which did not attract attention. There were no outpatient visits and the appointments of couples were scheduled at unearthly hours.

“For the moment, we have seized her facility at Gopalpuram and we have also come to know that the doctor has similar facilities in Kukatpally, Visakhapatnam and other parts of the two-Telugu speaking States,” says District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO), Hyderabad, Dr J Venkati.

The health department has cancelled the registration of the facility. However, despite that, the doctor continued to operate it.

“We also believe that child trafficking is involved, because she was paying vulnerable poor parents and handing over their children to childless couples. There is a lot to be unpacked by the police authorities in the coming days,” the senior district health official pointed out.